Last Friday, Eugene residents and UO students gained a new restaurant option with the opening of a brand new Korean street food spot, Cluckin’ Dog. The restaurant, located at 1239 Alder St., opened Dec 7.
Originally a food cart in Albany, the new location will be the first brick and mortar restaurant for Cluckin’ Dog. The business will be occupying the property left vacant by the closing of Bangers and Brews, just a few blocks off campus.
Cluckin’ Dog gets its name from its two signature items: Korean-style corn dogs and Korean fried chicken. The original corn dog, called the OG Dog, is half beef hot dog and half mozzarella cheese. It’s dipped in a mochi flour batter, rolled in Panko breadcrumbs and then fried. To finish it off, the decadent dog is drizzled with ketchup, mustard and a fine dusting of sugar.
The menu offers variations on the OG dog, such as the Angry Dog, coated in ramen and Hot Cheetos, or the Bumpy Dog, coated in potato cubes and dusted with cheddar cheese powder. Guests also have the option of mixing any of the toppings to create their own personalized corn dog.
The fried chicken is made using a special double-frying method, where the wings are lightly coated and seasoned before being fried at a low temperature, set out to cool and then fried again at a high temperature. This allows the chicken to get a shatter-like crispiness that is unique to Korean fried chicken. Guests can choose between a variety of sauces, such as sweet and spicy Gochujang, garlicky soy sauce or ginger BBQ.
At the center of Cluckin’ Dog is its owner and head chef, Sai Pituk. A five-time restaurant owner, veteran and mother of three, Pituk has had a long and varied career. She appeared in the reality show “Around the World in 80 Plates,” and garnered an award for Top Asian Chef Northeast Region from Caesar Entertainment.
Now, Pituk is looking to branch out into a new kind of culinary experience with Cluckin’ Dog. “I just thought the market needed something different,” Pituk said. “I just wanted to do something a little bit more fun, not as serious. My other brick and mortar restaurants have all been serious. This is just fun.”
Pituk plans to take that sense of fun and apply it to a soon-to-be added dessert item, a Korean shaved ice known as Bingsu, which will be offered in unique flavors such as Red Bull and beer.
